Dozer says: “I was at Edwards for about a year and a half and we had a hard time to get two planes to work at same time. Initially - at Edwards Air Force Base - as is usual with a new platform, getting things to ‘work’ was an issue. This print is available in multiple sizes from – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS. I kinda termed the phrase ‘offensive stealth and defensive stealth’ as the F-22 can be offensive but the likes of the B-2 Spirit and F-117A Nighthawk have to run and hide, right? The F-22 is a different use: it flies fast and high, the F-117 is low and slow, while the B-2 is high and slow.” He says: “By 2002 the Raptor was a hit behind time - the airframe and stuff was good, just not the electronics. In 2001 there was a request for experienced pilots, F-15C pilots and ex-weapons school and that meant that Dozer was going to get lucky and get to test the F-22 Raptor. Then you put one really good guy in an F-15 against a Raptor and he’s still gonna get killed there’s that much of a difference in technology. It does it all for you … you could take four weapons instructors in an F-15 each and you could have some lieutenant who is ‘weapons clueless’ and he’s gonna find them all and kill them all. That’s the difference with the F-22 Raptor.

“In an F-15 you’re sensor operator, you’re working the radar you’re the guy working this all out and managing the systems and putting together the 3D picture in your head. It was like Star Wars when they hit light speed.” So many things are happening at once: it was summertime in Florida, hot and humid trying to catch up with the airplane as an F-15 in military dry power is like a T-38 in full afterburner! It takes time to work it out: eventually your mind catches up. He recalls in Bertie Simmonds’ book F-15 Eagle: “So, I picked the F-15C slot at Elmendorf, Alaska, and went from Tyndall in Florida up to Elmendorf, but my first F-15 flight was out of Tyndall in a two-seater and my second flight was one of those max performance take-offs. Mike ‘Dozer’ Shower graduated top of his class and got the pick of the various seats available to a USAF pilot - including slots as an F-111 pilot and a variety of places as an F-15C fighter pilot. The Raptor pilots achieved a 108-to-zero “kill” ratio against the best F-15, F-16 and F-18 “adversaries.” The stealthy F-22A also proved that it could avoid and destroy enemy surface to air missiles, and recorded an impressive 97 percent mission capability rate. Furthermore, it requires less maintenance than older fighters.įrom the very beginning, the F-22A exceeded the USAF’s expectations, and during exercises and deployments, it proved to be more than a match for any fighter opposing it.ĭuring the highly realistic Exercise Northern Edge 2006, the F-22 proved itself against as many as 40 “enemy aircraft” during simulated battles.

The Raptor combines stealth, maneuverability and the ability to fly long distances at supersonic speeds - or “supercruise” - in performance of air superiority and air-to-ground missions. Its radar, weapons control and electronic warfare systems work together as one integrated unit. The Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor is the world’s first stealthy air dominance fighter. It does it all for you.” Mike ‘Dozer’ Shower F-15 Eagle and F-22 Raptor fighter pilot.

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